One of the biggest hits of last weekend's big breakfast was the coffee cake we served. I did my own riff on a recipe found in a magazine for cinnamon muffins, doubling the cinnamon and adding espresso powder (thank you 'Winger for inadvertently mentioning espresso powder at exactly the right moment). I'm not a big sweets fan but I absolutely LOVED this because it wasn't that sweet, and everybody else (including the sweet tooths) loved it too. Great recipe for fans of the potent Vietnamese cinnamon, though of course any cinnamon will do.

In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Whisk the egg, milk and butter together; then stir into the dry ingredients until just moistened. Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full, or use greased 8" cake pan. Sprinkle over topping, below, and bake at 400 F for 15-18 minutes, or closer to 25 minutes if making a cake.

For the topping:

8 tsp AP flour4 tsp sugar1/2 tsp cinnamon4 tsp cold butter

Cut butter into dry ingredient mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over battter and bake.

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

Hey, JeniseAre the measurements correct for the streusel topping? I've never seen a recipe that called for teaspoons of butter. Also, 4 tsps doesn't seem to be enough to sufficiently cut into 12 tsps of combined flour and sugar. Just wondering.

"...To undersalt deliberately in the name of dietary chic is to omit from the music of cookery the indispensable bass line over which all tastes and smells form their harmonies." -- Robert Farrar Capon

Jo Ann Henderson wrote:Hey, JeniseAre the measurements correct for the streusel topping? I've never seen a recipe that called for teaspoons of butter. Also, 4 tsps doesn't seem to be enough to sufficiently cut into 12 tsps of combined flour and sugar. Just wondering.

Yes, 4+4+2, in teaspoons, was the original recipe for flour, sugar and butter respectively--I just double-checked, and it turned out well for me. But that recipe was for six measly muffins where I had turned it into coffee cake (literally!) so just doubled the base parts.

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

Jenise wrote:'Winger, do you like raw batter? Bob declared that the best he'd ever sampled. Of course, deprivation would have a lot to do with that since I almost never bake cakes. You're much more fortunate!

Jenise, I don't know how the raw batter tastes. I was told to get my a$$ out of the kitchen. Since I was craving some coffee cake, for once I did as I was told.

Jenise, I just made up a batch of the muffins and they made 14 muffins and with plenty of topping. They sure smell good in the oven right now and have actually risen out of the muffin tin by quite a bit. I always add an extra egg to my muffin mixes.